Reasons To Enter A Free Monthly Writing Contest

By Paulette Mason


A simple internet search gives writers access to many contests catering to all sorts of styles and genres. Whether you are a new writer or a more experienced one, you will find one suitable for you to enter. Entering a free monthly writing contest gives you the opportunity to win prizes and offers a way to build recognition. All that is required of you is your time and effort.

Selecting which contests to submit to needs some careful consideration to avoid disappointment and wasted effort. It may help to read submissions of previous winners to help you to make this decision and see if your style suits the particular contest. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, romances or thrillers, you will need to select a challenge that suits you best as a writer.

Entrants are bound by the rules and conditions of a particular contest and so it is important to read these carefully before submitting your entry. You have to know what is expected of you as an entrant. Your work must be original and some contests do not accept submissions that have ever been published elsewhere. You should also be fully aware of what rights the sponsors have over your work once submitted.

When submitting your manuscript, you usually have certain guidelines to follow. One of these is the required length. It is important to follow these guidelines as closely as possible or your entry may be rejected. If your word count is a maximum of 1 500 and you submit an entry of 3 000 words, it is highly likely to be rejected.

You may not regard producing an error free manuscript as being important. However, this does make an impression on the judges. A manuscript full of spelling and grammatical errors that could easily have been corrected does not create a good first impression. Edit, edit and edit again before submission to make sure that any avoidable errors do not detract from your excellent content.

Creativity, originality and your language usage are usually the main considerations for judging. It is also vital to make sure that you have not gone completely digressed and gone right off the theme. No matter how brilliant your content, if you do not stick to the theme, you are highly unlikely to win.

Some contests are held by magazines and they offer subscriptions as prizes for winning entries. They also publish winning entries in the magazine and this can bring recognition. Even if a small prize is offered, this still means that others have read your writing and seen its value. There are several contests that offer very good prizes, including sums of money which can be a great incentive to writers struggling to make a living.

You have nothing to lose from entering such contests where no entry fees are required. What you will gain is the opportunity for others to evaluate your work and sometimes you may receive helpful feedback, even if you do not win a prize. You may also get a chance to be published and start to build up recognition for your work.




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